The genre-blending Unlimited Sunshine concept seemed like a great idea for the first hour. Comic Eugene Mirman opened with a few offbeat witticisms. The gypsy rockers of Gogol Bordello followed and had folks dancing madly to a band many had never even heard of.
Then the sunshine receded, blocked out by a giant storm cloud known as Tegan and Sara. What anyone—even the Gilmore Girls set who sang along—sees in this atrocity of an indie-pop act remains a mystery. So they're twins who look and sound alike. That only means it's difficult to tell which bad singer is which. Even when they had something good going, they wrecked the legitimately catchy "Walking With a Ghost" with a hailstorm of cheesy synth.
It also didn't help that Mirman's only contribution during two set breaks totalling 75 minutes was a single short, mildly amusing video, leaving an audience of around 1,500 standing in the dark waiting for something—anything—to happen. Why bring a comedian unless you plan to actually use him?
Headliner Cake helped put a sheen back on the proceedings with a solid, if unspectacular performance, loaded with such geek-rock favorites as "The Distance," "Sheep Go to Heaven" and "Never There." Frontman John McCrea worked the room with his deadpan barbs, pitting the floor against the balcony for several giant sing-alongs ("They think they're better than you up there ... they probably got in for free, and they don't even appreciate it").
Ultimately, though, Cake's trumpet, plucked guitar notes and funky basslines were no match for Gogol Bordello, easily the most memorable act on the bill. Led by frenetic Ukrainian Eugene Hutz, the nine-member collective—fiddle and accordion included—danced, screamed and sweated through a violent yet musically engaging onslaught.
Compelling as Gogol sounds on its 2005 disc, Gypsy Punks: Underground World Strike, the group's live show puts its recordings to shame, proving that the marriage of music and performance art can work if the participants buy into the message, in this case, the blending of global styles as diverse as punk, folk, hip-hop and klezmer.
Next time around, how about we scrap the festival concept, get back to basics and pair Cake with opener Gogol Bordello? Because apparently when it comes to sunshine, there really are limits.